July the second, it was nineteen sixty-three I was servin' time for armed robbery Four o'clock in the mornin', I was layin' back in my cell I heard the whistle blow then I heard somebody yell
There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on Down in cell block number 9
The riot started down in cell block number 4 Spread like wild fire across the prison floor Scar-face Jones said, 'It's too late to quit' Pass the dynamite 'cause the fuse is lit
There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on Down in cell block number 9
Y'all gotta stop that stuff goin' on over there If ya don't stop that riot, y'all gonna get the chair I said, 'Hey now boys, get ready to run Here come the warden with an automatic gun'
There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on Down in cell block number 9
In the forty-seventh hour the tear gas It got our men We are all back in our cells But every now and then
There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on There's a riot goin' on Down in cell block number 9